U.S. Civilian Contractor Killed in Iraq
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: November 14, 2003

Filed at 6:53 a.m. ET

TIKRIT, Iraq (AP) -- Suspected insurgents raked a convoy with automatic gunfire, killing a U.S. civilian contractor and wounding another American, a U.S. military official said Friday.

The attack happened Thursday west of Balad, 45 miles north of Baghdad, said Maj. Josslyn Aberle, spokeswoman of the 4th Infantry Division.

The victims were traveling to the north of Iraq in a convoy when the gunmen, who were believed to be loyalists of ousted leader Saddam Hussein, approached from the rear and opened fire at them, Aberle said.

After the attack, a U.S. military rapid response team arrived, secured the area and brought the wounded to a medical facility for treatment. The wounded American was in stable condition, Aberle said.

She did not identify the dead American or his employer pending notification of relatives.

The attack underscores the danger of travel along highways in Iraq, where many robbers, carjackers, insurgents and other armed groups roam.

Separately, the U.S. military also is looking into the reported disappearance of an American contractor, Kirk von Ackermann, 37, of Moss Beach, Calif., who went missing last month while driving between Saddam's hometown of Tikrit and Kirkuk.

Von Ackermann's car was found abandoned on Oct. 9 on a roadside with his satellite phone, a laptop computer and a briefcase containing around $40,000, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Von Ackerman is employed by Ultra Services, an Istanbul-based company that provides supplies and logistics assistance for U.S. Army bases in Iraq.

Lt. Col. Steven Russell, a battalion commander in the 4th ID, said he was told by von Ackerman's companions that the American apparently stopped on the road to change a flat tire. There was speculation that he was kidnapped but the military has not come up with any evidence of that so far, he said.